This seems to be getting pretty serious...


Consultants encourage performing arts center for downtown area
James Coburn
Special to The Sun

EDMOND — Recommendations for the Downtown Master Plan encourages the city to continue exploring the feasibility of a Performing Arts Center in downtown Edmond.

The Fort Worth-based consulting group Freese and Nichols presented to the Edmond City Council an update of the Downtown Master Plan this week.

“This is a game-changer. This is a major anchor that could happen in the downtown area,” said Cody Richardson, project planner.

Meetings among the consultants, city staff and the University of Central Oklahoma have set the tone for creating a conceptual plan of development. They considered the advantages and challenges of placing a performing arts center in the downtown area.

“I think our conclusion is that this would be an awesome inclusion to the downtown area. We’re not quite there yet,” Richardson said.

Challenges for constructing the performing arts center are the building size itself, land size, parking and funding, Richardson said. The foot print ranges from 80,000 to 100,000 square feet, which would take up an entire block of the downtown area.

One potential area recommended for the facility is somewhere in the University Village area between Boulevard and University Drive.

“The other area we looked at was near Stephenson Park,” Richardson said. “If this was in the blocks between Stephenson Park and Broadway, that as a gateway building into your downtown would be amazing.”

The Downtown Master Plan is a performance standard for what Edmond wants, said Wendy Shabay, project manager.

“We do know with every developer that comes in or project that comes in, there’s always going to be some tweaking,” Shabay said. “The overall plan is just to set a framework for those projects to happen.”

- See more at: Consultants encourage performing arts center for downtown area » Local News » The Edmond Sun (http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x1669983409/Consultants-encourage-performing-arts-center-for-downtown-area#sthash.KpEZHi8L.dpuf)

University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond officials visit Weatherford's event center | News OK (http://newsok.com/edmond-university-of-central-oklahoma-officials-visit-weatherford-for-event-center-ideas/article/5337160)

This would be nice. It would be so much nicer to have something like that be the centerpiece of our downtown, than a jail. Every time I drive through downtown and I see that big, stupid thing they are building I just cringe. I don't care how nice it looks, having a police station/jail as the biggest, most notable building in your entire downtown is not good. It's like saying "Hi. Welcome to Edmond. Behave yourselves, or we will let you have a stay in our jail". Having a performing arts center somewhere between downtown and UCO would be wonderful.
The city of Fayetteville, AR has a performing arts center just a block or 2 from the university. it's located on Dickson Street, where all the restaurants and bars are located. I don't know if it was done as a joint effort or not, but it is very nice. People can enjoy dinner in one of the restaurants before strolling over for a performance, then afterwards, go by one of the nearby bars and have a drink. They are constantly having events there. It's an easy walk from the university. As for parking, I would say there is much less than we have here, for a much busier area, but they seem to make it work.

This would be nice. It would be so much nicer to have something like that be the centerpiece of our downtown, than a jail. Every time I drive through downtown and I see that big, stupid thing they are building I just cringe. I don't care how nice it looks, having a police station/jail as the biggest, most notable building in your entire downtown is not good. It's like saying "Hi. Welcome to Edmond. Behave yourselves, or we will let you have a stay in our jail". Having a performing arts center somewhere between downtown and UCO would be wonderful.
The city of Fayetteville, AR has a performing arts center just a block or 2 from the university. it's located on Dickson Street, where all the restaurants and bars are located. I don't know if it was done as a joint effort or not, but it is very nice. People can enjoy dinner in one of the restaurants before strolling over for a performance, then afterwards, go by one of the nearby bars and have a drink. They are constantly having events there. It's an easy walk from the university. As for parking, I would say there is much less than we have here, for a much busier area, but they seem to make it work.

Not that it will make you feel any better, but... the people that will occupy that "stupid thing" didn't want the build in the current location for several reasons. None the less, most of the businesses downtown and many key people in the city wanted it built where it is, so we'll live with it.

With that said, there are several good potential locations for a Performing Arts Center. Looking forward to the discussions.

Not that it will make you feel any better, but... the people that will occupy that "stupid thing" didn't want the build in the current location for several reasons. None the less, most of the businesses downtown and many key people in the city wanted it built where it is, so we'll live with it.
.
Oh I remember all too well all that transpired the during the decision making process for a location of the jail. I hope that if this project ever happens that it will be a nice centerpiece for both downtown and the university.

Downtown theater in planning stage - The Edmond Sun: News (http://www.edmondsun.com/news/downtown-theater-in-planning-stage/article_4d1710b2-c80c-11e4-acc6-a3e676a54b11.html)

Edmond, UCO officials discuss possible performing arts center | News OK (http://newsok.com/edmond-uco-officials-discuss-possible-performing-arts-center/article/5400493)

I have to agree with another poster. The EPD station should have been moved to I-35 and Covell area along with someother city offices. The old pd building could have been used as a substation/citizen contact point. This would have freed up the land to be used as a performing arts center. The city is growing eastward and is the geographic center of Edmond. That is why FD headquarters was moved out there along with the training grounds. Originally it was thought that it should be somewhere centerally located to the current population at the time we were looking for land.

I think PD stations should be HQ'd downtown. A substation might be necessary in the coming years. I'll stop talking about it though before OKCBBQ guy comes on here with some conspiracy that I want the police stations downtown so I can speed out in the country.

From the Edmond Sun...
"UCO is revising its Campus Master Plan. The last version was eight years ago, Kinder said, that specifically expresses the need for a performance center, a hotel and a parking garage on the UCO campus."

"'We know that is simply not going to happen. The space is not there,' Kinder said."

As far as the Performance Art Center being located on the campus, yes I can see how that would be an incredible squeeze. I disagree about the hotel and parking garage. I think a good location for the hotel would be between Murdaugh Hall and West hall. This would mean razing the housing office already there (and the small basketball court), but I doubt that it is a historically significant building. As far as the parking garage, there is a sea of parking on the east side of the campus. Putting a garage on the corner of Ayers and Baumann seems like the logical space. It will eliminate some crucial parking in the short run during construction, but in the long run, it would greatly benefit UCO. Who knows, maybe you could even incorporate some mixed-use art galleries or sandwich shops at the ground level.

Edmond is building a great downtown area, slowly but surely.

I think they should get aggressive and spend a lot more, to be more competitive with Norman/OU and Stillwater/OSU. Those two cities, which are equidistant, have a facilities/events advantage over Edmond due to colleges doing what colleges do. Edmond has the resources to compete in this arena, and it would be a strong investment as the north metro continues to grow.

They really botched their convention center opportunity.

Performing Arts Center could host major competitions - The Edmond Sun: News (http://www.edmondsun.com/news/performing-arts-center-could-host-major-competitions/article_db1337b0-ca05-11e4-9dfc-fb3942153fbc.html)

More news on the Performing Arts center and other projects.
Task force supports performing arts center - News - The Edmond Sun (http://m.edmondsun.com/news/task-force-supports-performing-arts-center/article_c69e26a0-8fd5-11e5-bf92-030640769698.html?mode=jqm)

More details including some renderings and a site location should be announced on November 27th.

http://www.edmondsun.com/news/study-says-edmond-ripe-for-performing-arts-center/article_4798bd18-d617-11e7-8e2c-bf95673c3827.html

http://www.edmondsun.com/news/study-says-edmond-ripe-for-performing-arts-center/article_4798bd18-d617-11e7-8e2c-bf95673c3827.html

Another pay wall?

And papers wonder why they have trouble making it in the 21st Century. They continue to have paywalls while free sites are raking it in with ad revenue.